90125 (1983)
1. Owner of a Lonely Heart
2. Hold On
3. It Can Happen
4. Changes
5. Cinema
6. Leave It
7. Our Song
8. City of Love
9. Hearts
It’s almost poetic that 90125 wasn’t even supposed to be a Yes album. The story behind it is as convoluted as any in the band’s history—a fitting prelude to one of their most surprising reinventions. After the Drama lineup failed to catch fire, Yes more or less disbanded. Steve Howe and Geoff Downes went off to form Asia, striking commercial gold in the process. Meanwhile, Chris Squire and Alan White linked up with former keyboardist Tony Kaye and a South African guitarist/songwriter named Trevor Rabin to launch a new project called Cinema. And then, in a twist only this band could deliver, Jon Anderson was recruited to sing, essentially turning Cinema into a Yes reunion in everything but name. At which point someone wisely asked: why not just call it Yes?
That backstory is important, because it explains why 90125 doesn’t sound remotely like “classic” Yes from the early ’70s. This wasn’t a continuation of Close to the Edge or Fragile—it was an almost complete reinvention. What’s shocking is how well it worked. In fact, this album didn’t just revive the brand—it turned Yes into bona fide mainstream rock stars, giving them the kind of global hit single they’d never come close to before. Sure, old-school fans clutched their pearls at the glossy production and radio-friendly hooks, but it’s hard to deny the band caught lightning in a bottle here. By 1983, tastes had changed. The kids who loved Owner of a Lonely Heart probably wouldn’t have lasted two minutes with Tales from Topographic Oceans—and vice versa.
If there’s one unifying thread, it’s Jon Anderson’s voice. Even surrounded by Trevor Rabin’s muscular guitar riffs, Tony Kaye’s bright, processed keys, and Trevor Horn’s ultra-modern production, Anderson remains unmistakably Yes. His presence makes it easier for longtime fans to accept the new direction—even if everything else had changed. Because make no mistake: this was Trevor Rabin’s record as much as anyone’s. His songwriting, his guitar work, even some lead vocals—all of it gave 90125 a hard-edged, contemporary feel miles removed from the band’s earlier English pastoral vibe.
Everyone in the world has heard Owner of a Lonely Heart, and if you like that track, odds are you’ll find the rest of the album equally appealing. It’s packed with sharp hooks, polished production, and tight arrangements. Hold On, Changes, It Can Happen, and the sweeping closer Hearts all stand out as strong, radio-ready rock songs that showcase how well this hybrid lineup clicked. It’s actually a bit surprising none of them scaled the charts the way Owner did—they’re all cut from the same streamlined, accessible cloth.
That’s not to say 90125 is entirely immune to sounding like 1983 in capital letters. Tracks like Our Song and City of Love lean heavily on the era’s production tics and can feel a bit dated today. Rabin also takes a few lead vocals himself. He’s a strong singer—no question—but there’s a certain generic arena-rock quality to his voice that doesn’t distinguish itself the way Anderson’s always has. The decision to keep Anderson as the primary vocalist was a smart one, giving the album that crucial Yes identity even as it raced toward the pop-rock mainstream.
In the end, what makes 90125 so remarkable isn’t that it rivals the band’s classic period—it doesn’t, and it doesn’t try to. What makes it work is that Yes managed to adapt so radically, welcome new members, embrace the times, and still make something undeniably compelling. The album was a blockbuster hit that kept the band in the public eye well into the MTV era. Even if nothing they did afterward would be quite as successful, 90125 gave them a whole new generation of fans and bought them a decade or two of additional relevance they might never have had otherwise.
About the only real knock you can make? The title. 90125 is literally the record’s catalog number. For a band known for elaborate concept albums and mystical imagery, you’d think they could have come up with something a little more inspired. But hey—if that’s the biggest complaint about the album, they were clearly doing something right.
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